Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are all chasing Town striker Connor Wickham, according to a national newspaper, who refer to the Blues frontman as “the new Wayne Rooney”. A host of Premier League scouts have regularly been keeping an eye on 16-year-old Wickham since he was a schoolboy, as TWTD was first to report back in February.

Town are said to fear Wickham agreeing to join one of the big four or another Premier League side — Aston Villa having been linked earlier in the week — in January before he is able to sign a professional contract on his 17th birthday on March 31st next year.

If any of the watching clubs do firm up their interest, Town would be in a position similar to the one in which Crystal Palace found themselves with John Bostock in 2008 when the Eagles academy schoolboy joined Tottenham, much to chairman Simon Jordan's annoyance.

The two clubs were unable to come to an agreement regarding a deal and a Professional Football Compensation Committee (PFCC) tribunal, run by the PFA, set a fee of £700,000 for Bostock, plus add-ons rising in steps up to £1.25 million after he makes five, 10, 20, 30 and 40 appearances, another £200,000 on his full international debut and a 15% sell-on.

Photo: Action Images

nobrain added 10:58 - Nov 16 "The new Wayne Rooney" - surely the lad is not that ugly! Not sure that there would be quite such a fuss about him if our other strikers were doing their jobs. However, he looks the part and I'd like to see him stay and develop. However, money talks....
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AJblue added 11:09 - Nov 16 FFS.... How can it be bad business, when we dont yet have him on a contract,because league rules says he is too young?!!!!! So Lightningboy, yes we are trying to move forward as a club,but if the RULES say we have to let him go, how can we as a club be held responsible for selling him. Try reading the article before commenting...it makes you look less of an arse
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devontractorboy added 11:13 - Nov 16 Lightningboy I too hope Wickham is here alot longer than Keane, the point I'm making is if he decides to give it his best shot at say Arsenal (like Wrighty did) you can't really blame him, we all would if we were honest, club loyalty sadly these days is a good second place!
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Lightningboy added 12:48 - Nov 16 Sadly too true devon..remember when we won the youth cup 4 years ago?...Exciting times ahead I thought but how many of them have actually made it here?
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tort63 added 12:58 - Nov 16 finidiwoah - I believe the reason Southampton got so much (£5m rising to £12m) for Walcott was because they reached a deal with Arsenal without the need for involving the PFCC. IF any of these Prem team are genuinely interested in Wickham then we have to hope that a similar mutually acceptable deal is reached with them, otherwise we could potentially end up with another Bostock situation where the compensation will be derisory and non-negotiable.

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IpswichKev added 13:02 - Nov 16 Hope you can run fast then Connor!!
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nobrain added 14:02 - Nov 16 Have to agree with some of the earlier comments regarding this and other so-called stories about possible moves by clubs for players. Newspaper talk is cheap and whilst some people enjoy the speculation, it is just that - nothing more - so don't get too worked up about it.
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VILJOEN67 added 14:19 - Nov 16 lightning boy Bobby Robson took the class of 73 and 75 developed the raw material, coached them into first team players, the coaching of late is not of the same standard thats why the class of 2005 have underperformed
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Lightningboy added 14:56 - Nov 16 Totally agree VILJOEN67 and even under Burley we seemed to be churning out the young kids season after season : Dyer,Scowcroft,Wright,Bramble,Bent to name but a few..sadly it's all gone downhill since those days but hey-ho Burley looks like he'll be back on the market in the next day or so,and he couldn't do any worse than what we're putting up with at the moment..........?

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finidiwoah added 15:26 - Nov 16 i know connor is 16 and he is a very good prospect i am not denying that. he is strong and knows where the goal is by the sounds of it........ but....... if someone chucked a couple of mill at him- 2 for arguments sake, do you not think it would be good business to take it for a boy who hasnt really acheived anything in the game and chances are this could be his highest point??

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itfc1989 added 17:30 - Nov 16 has to be arsenal if he goes!!
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